Hassells On Funeral Preaching

In Hassell's history, chapter eleven, page 392 (here) we find this interesting footnote by Sylvester:

"Like some others of our brethren in the ministry, neither of the authors of this volume ever preached funeral sermons. But the most of our ministering brethren do preach on such occasions, and they give as a reason that they feel impressed to preach, not funerals, but the gospel, wherever and whenever an opportunity is presented. Still it should be remembered that Christ and His Apostles never preached on such occasions, so far as the New Testament informs us; and that no minister of Christ ever preached on such occasions until the fourth century, so far as history informs us; and that funeral sermons were the successors of the ancient heathen funeral orations (see Smith and Cheetham’s Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, vol. i., pp. 253 and 704)."

My beloved father, while I was a Hardshell, used to tell me that the reason why PB ministers were frequently called upon to preach funerals, especially of those who gave little or no evidence of being saved, was because Hardshell doctrine, which is almost Universalism, got a whole lot of such people into Heaven, and was the only doctrine that could give hope where there seemed to be none. I, however, view the matter differently.

My only further comment at this time is this; How could the PB church go from shying away from funeral preaching to making it a popular thing to do? I think it has to do with their change in doctrine. What think ye?